Friday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 2/22/2013

Task Force: 'Stand your ground' law should stand

The Task Force on Citizen Safety and Protection released its report on the controversial "Stand Your Ground" law, and it recommends that the law not be overturned. The Task Force delivered their final report Friday morning to the Florida Senate President, Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives and the Executive Office of the Governor. [Source: 13News.] An excerpt from the report:

The Task Force concurs with the core belief that all persons, regardless of citizenship status, have a right to feel safe and secure in our state. To that end, all persons who are conducting themselves in a lawful manner have a fundamental right to stand their ground and defend themselves from attack with proportionate force in every place they have a lawful right to be.

The Task Force recommends the Legislature examine the term “unlawful activity” as used in Chapter 776...

IN CASE YOU MISSED ITLuxury bus transportation in Florida is 'On a Roll'

The past five years have seen the re-emergence of bus transportation, with a number of companies providing intrastate bus travel on comfortable coaches with competitive fares, more routes and a focus on speed and convenience.» Go to story

Cuba's Raul Castro mentions possible retirement

Cuban President Raul Castro has unexpectedly raised the possibility of leaving his post. During a joint appearance with visiting Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Friday, Castro said, "I am going to be 82 years old. I have the right to retire, don't you think?" The Cuban leader is scheduled to be sworn in to a new five-year term on Sunday. Castro urged reporters to listen to his speech that day. [Source: AP]

Public smoking ban in Florida introduced by new Senate bill

Florida's Senate Regulated Industries Committee unanimously approved a smoking ban in outdoor spaces by empowering local cities and counties to pass stricter smoking laws than the state. Although the measure passed unanimously on Thursday with the support of health organization such as American Heart Association to the Moffitt Cancer Center, there was some pushback from one interest group: restaurants. [Source: Huffington Post]